Look What I Can Do with This!

Materials You Need: Just some of your child’s favorite toys, or other simple items from your home (for example, spoons and pots, pieces of paper and a few crayons; small wooden blocks, a few pieces of cloth, etc.

What You Can Do Together: At this age, your child is still enjoying playing with objects. Now she does not just explore these objects, but she will try to use them for a reason. Just give your child some objects and watch what your child might do. For example, she might put all the spoons in one pot, or pretend to eat with the spoon, or pick up a toy phone and talk on it. Just watch and enjoy your child’s activities. You can also do something interesting with one of the toys and see if your child copies you or perhaps does something different. Give your child many opportunities to explore what objects can be used for.

What Your Child is Learning: This kind of activity strengthens your child’s thinking skills through simple everyday experiences. Your child is thinking about “What is this and what can it do? What is it for?” She is learning every minute!